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The Burning Bush
"The Burning Bush" 'is the fifth episode of ''Genesis, the tenth season, and the 169th episode overall. It was narrated by Katarina, airing on September 30, 2015. In the episode, Preston and Chiara travel to China when the Plague of Lice breaks out in Beijing. Aboard a transpacific flight, the Third Envoy is Consumed. The Episode CHINA JET FLIGHT 333 November 6, 2016 "We will be landing in Shanghai," the flight attendant said in Chinese, "in one hour. Refreshments are making their way up the aisle." Xue Yunqi sat back in his airplane seat. China Jet Flight 333 banked westward, toward Shanghai. "And another thing," Yunqi's father berated, "You have become too...western! We will not allow it." Yunqi rolled his eyes. Ever since his sojourn in America for his freshman year of high school, his parents have thought the country was having a negative influence on him. On the contrary, he felt free. His parents, however, refused to even call him by his chosen English name, Kevin. "And that ridiculous club of yours," his father continued, "Young Buddhists? How dare you give in to religion." Yunqi ignored his father and glanced outside. They were sitting alongside the wing of the jet. Outside, the clouds were darkening. But something else caught his eye. It looked like foliage was growing out of the wing. A tree. Or a bush. To his shock, the bush ignited. Purple flames. Yunqi jumped backward, his eyes glued to the burning bush. After a few seconds, he calmed down. He spoke English now. "I consent." "Shen me?" Yunqi's father asked, "What?" Yunqi's Consumption had already begun. And he wasted no time. He spoke his Gospel. The airplane shook. Yunqi's father looked outside. Lice swarmed in the clouds. Then, they attacked the plane. "Attention!" the pilot announced, "We will be making an emergency landing in Beijing. Please return to your seats." The plane banked sharply to the right and swung back toward the capital city of China. On board, hell erupted as the lice flew in through the air ducts and dug themselves into the hair of every passenger on board, excluding Yunqi. The Third Plague had touched down. BEIJING, CHINA DAY FOUR Preston and Chiara waited in line outside Beijing for entrance to the city. The government was distributing hazmat suits, though haphazardly assembled. For the first few hours of the plague, the Chinese government had given its best efforts to stop the spread of the lice, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. The entire city of Beijing was inundated with lice. Only two days after the end of the Plague of Frogs in Las Vegas, Alistaire had received word that Beijing was the third major city to fall. He also found a child named Xue Yunqi hospitalized in Beijing for an unknown illness after his plane flight which, it seemed, was Ground Zero for the outbreak. Preston and Chiara had flown out immediately, but had faced immense struggle gaining access to the infected city. Only now, after four days, did they succeed in reaching the front of the line. "I wonder if he saw a burning bush," Chiara said, "Like Ava did. Maybe Liam." "I remember Mrs. Porter saying that Liam's phone was charred in the forest. A burning bush maybe?" "So both of them saw one," Chiara said, "Any luck contacting Liam?" "No," Preston said sadly, "The Porters have really hidden him from the grid. Debra will do the same for Ava." "Burning bush," Chiara mused, "What Moses saw before God asked him to bring the plagues to Egypt to save the Hebrew slaves." "The burning bush was the beginning," Preston said, "So what do the burning bushes here represent?" "The beginning of the plagues," Chiara guessed. "But..." Preston said, "The burning bush led to Exodus. So what do these lead to? Another Exodus?" "To where?" Chiara said. "Xia yige!" the Chinese official barked, "NEXT!" Chiara and Preston ran into the hospital two hours after entering the city. They ripped off the hazmat suits. Chiara scratched desperately at her head. "LICE!" a nurse screamed and they marched Chiara and Preston into a room full of bald Chinese citizens. It took Chiara all of seven seconds to realize what was going to happen. "Sit," a nurse said and pulled out a razor. "You have been infected," another nurse said, "The epidemic is too large to cure. Please hold still while we remove the base." Chiara sobbed as they shaved her head. Preston sat quietly as they did his. Chiara realized this was the first time Preston had ever seen her cry. She hated it. Once the lice had been scrubbed from their scalps, they went to find Yunqi. Yunqi was lying on a bed in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. His parents had fled to Shanghai, leaving him alone. But he didn't consciously know that, Preston assumed. The nurses were curious as to why he was the only person in the entire hospital not affected by the lice. He was glass-eyed, definitely consumed. Only when he spoke, he spoke not in Chinese or English. "What the..." Chiara said. Yunqi babbled an odd string of words. "Excuse me," Preston said to a nurse, "Can you translate him for me?" The nurse listened. "No," she said, "He does not speak Chinese. At least, not any dialect I've heard. It might be ancient." "Ancient Chinese?" Chiara said to Preston. "Yunqi," Preston prodded. He spoke the ancient dialect. "Xue Yunqi," Chiara tried. Preston lifted the boy's chart and read over the details. "He was studying in America," Preston said, "Ava is American." "Maybe there are ties to America," Chiara said. "Liam didn't have any American heritage," Preston said. "True," Chiara said, slumping. "Two boys," Preston said, "One girl. And..." He looked back at the clipboard. "American..." he muttered. He approached Yunqi. "Kevin?" Preston said softly. Yunqi turned his head. '''"From above. From the skies. Into your hair. Into your rice. They aren't sweet. They aren't nice. A pestilence. A plague of lice." Preston and Chiara recoiled. "There it is," Chiara said. She removed a voice recorder. "Kevin," she said and switched on the device. It recorded. "Why would it only trigger when his English name is used?" Preston asked. "Defense mechanism?" Chiara said, "Liam and Ava were surrounded by family when they were Consumed. They were protected. Here, it's open seas. Someone could hear him, accuse him of starting the plague, and kill him. But if he speaks an unknown language..." "No one casts him a second glance," Preston said, "He survives. The Envoys are being protected then..." "A blessing and a curse," Chiara said. "That's what Cartier said in Paris," Preston said, "Liam had epilepsy, but it was cured after his Consumption." Chiara sat in the chair next to Yunqi's bed. "We stay with him until this is over," she said. "Which," Preston said, "might just be in two days." DAY SIX The Plague of Lice ended on schedule, after six days of torment in Beijing. Preston and Chiara were beside Yunqi when he shot upright in bed. "Plague Three is shared. The Gospel of Air." Chiara and Preston exchanged intrigued glances as Yunqi leaned forward and vomited lice onto the bed. As they began to fly away, they evaporated. He turned to look at Preston. "Who...are you?" They introduced themselves. "My parents left me, didn't they?" Yunqi said. "Yes," Chiara said. Preston gave her a 'why-did-you-say-that' face. "I mean, they were told to flee the city," Chiara said. "My dad didn't believe me," Yunqi said, "On the plane. I saw a burning bush." "Oh?" Preston said, "What did the bush look like? Did it say anything?" "The bush had purple flames," Yunqi said, "And it asked me some questions. I can't remember, really. But then I had this vivid dream of lice. Just lice. I..." He saw their shaved heads. "It wasn't a dream," he said quietly. "No," Preston said, "It was not." "You saw a burning bush on an airplane?" Chiara asked, confused. Yunqi nodded. "Well," Preston said, "I want you to know you're not alone. When the blood took over Paris and the frogs took over Las Vegas last week, there were two people just like you." "Envoys," Yunqi said, "Two other Envoys. And seven to come." He froze. "Seven to come. Someone said that..." "Are you the Envoy of Lice?" Chiara asked. Yunqi wrinkled his nose. "No," he said, "Just an Envoy. Delivering the Gospel of Air." Preston turned toward Chiara. "How is the Gospel of Air different from the Gospel of Water?" he asked. Chiara just shook her head. "I have another question," Chiara said, "Why do the plagues only last six days? What is so special about six?" Yunqi straightened. "Because the seventh day is the day of rest." Preston exhaled. "The seventh day is the Sabbath. In the Book of Genesis, it says God created the Earth in six days and took the seventh to rest. Millions around the world celebrate Saturdays and Sundays as the day of rest. The Sabbath." He looked at Chiara. "It's getting harder and harder to refute the God theory." Chiara sighed. "I know." GLASGOW, SCOTLAND NOVEMBER 13, 2016 =TWO DAYS LATER= Alistaire finished his newspaper and dropped it neatly into the trash can. He was about to get up to ring the bell for the servants, but his phone rang. He plopped back onto his bed and answered the device. He did not recognize the number. "Alistaire MacGuaire," he said absentmindedly. "Mr. MacGuaire," the Englishman on the other end said, "This is Buckingham Palace. We have a dire issue concerning His Royal Highness the Prince George of Cambridge." Production Continuity and Story Arcs The Third Envoy, Xue Yunqi, was Consumed on board an airplane flying from America to China. Lice swarmed the plane and infected Beijing upon an emergency landing. Chiara and Preston, arriving on Day Four, were quickly infected with lice and had their heads shaved. Yunqi spoke his Gospel in an ancient Chinese dialect, being protected by his Consumption. When Preston and Chiara spoke his chosen English name, he spoke his Gospel in English. Yunqi was also protected in that he did not get infected by the lice. The Burning Bushes were explained as being an integral part to the Book of Exodus; Moses saw a Burning Bush through which God told him to bring the plagues to the land of Egypt in an effort to free the Hebrew slaves. Preston and Chiara wondered what the Burning Bushes could have been sent for this time around. Yunqi said he spoke the Gospel of Air, a contrast to the Gospels of Water in the two previous plagues. The reason for the six-day plagues and the seventh day being plague-free is because the seventh day is the Sabbath, the day of rest. At the end of the episode, Alistaire receives a call from Buckingham Palace and learns that Prince George of Cambridge is the Fourth Envoy. Trivia *The episode's namesake is derived from the titular bush seen outside Yunqi's airplane window and the previous bushes that Consumed Ava and Liam. *This is the first episode of the season to have the entirety of the plague occur in a single episode. *Xue Yunqi's name comes from three sources: **Xue is the surname of one of the producer's Chinese teachers. **Yunqi is the birth name of the producer's homestay Chinese student. **Kevin, Yunqi's English name, is the aforementioned homestay student's best friend's name. Category:Episodes Category:Genesis Episodes